DOUBTS have been raised about the possibility of an impending Stormont election with SDLP leader Colum Eastwood saying he believes the secretary of state is now "reflecting" on his position.
In recent weeks Chris Heaton -Harris has stressed the legal requirement to return to the polls if an executive is not formed six months after last May's election.
However, a week on from the deadline for restoring devolution, he has yet to name a date for a fresh poll.
If an election is to take place by Christmas, with December 15 previously earmarked as the most likely date, Mr Heaton-Harris must make the call by this coming Tuesday, November 8.
Mr Eastwood raised the possibility that the secretary of state may be considering postponing his decision as former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said returning to the polls was the "last resort" for trying to resolve the current political crisis.
He said he didn't think people wanted another election so soon after the last one.
"It's the last resort, frankly, and I don't think people want it," Mr Duncan Smith told the BBC.
"What we have to do, and the great, as it were, elephant in the room, in all of this is the Northern Ireland Protocol itself."
Mr Eastwood told The Irish News that an election was not in people's best interests.
"At a time when people are struggling to feed their families and heat their homes it would send entirely the wrong message to waste millions on an election that wouldn’t solve any of our problems," he said.
The Foyle MP said talks between the EU and the British government aimed as resolving issues around the protocol "seem to be progressing positively".
"The negotiations should be given the necessary space to proceed, without the disruption an election would bring – the DUP have no influence over these discussions, they should be in government now," he said.
"I believe the secretary of state is reflecting on his position and if he is moving away from an election, that is sensible. All focus now should be on getting an executive at Stormont to deal with our mounting problems.”
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll accused the British government of "keeping the public in the dark" over an election.
“The Tories are trying to save face at the expense of ordinary people – communities here are well used to Tory contempt, but they deserve better.”
When asked for the secretary of state's latest position on calling an election, the Northern Ireland Office sent Mr Heaton-Harris's statement from a week ago, in which he said he was "duty-bound by law to call new elections" within 12 weeks of last week's deadline.
